Shorthanded vs. Southold, Islanders provide gallant effort

The visiting Southold boys varsity basketball team held on to beat Shelter Island 58-53 in an old time barn-burner, Friday, January 23.

It was a two-point game with less than 40 seconds remaining, before the Indians leading scorer, Junior Tristan Wissemann fouled out.

The Settlers dominated the first quarter, outscoring the Indians 21-11 with Southold’s senior Liam Walker scoring 9 of his team’s 21 points. Walker was the only Settler in double figures, tallying 24 points.

The Indians came back in the second quarter, outscoring their opponents 14-13, with junior Billy Boeklen scoring 6 of his game’s 8 points during this period. Nevertheless, the Settler’s still enjoyed a 9 point lead at halftime.

The Indians were severely short-handed, dressing only seven varsity players and then lost senior co-captain Sawyer Clark to an injury prior to intermission.

Shelter Island made a solid run during the third quarter, outscoring their opponents 12-7, and trailed 41-37 going into the final period.

The fourth quarter was by all accounts a great high school basketball finish. Although the Indians lost the game, they played hard right to the end.

Wissemann played his best seven and a half minutes of basketball in the final period, scoring 12 of his career high 33 points, shooting 9 of 12 from inside the arc and 4 of 7 from behind the arc. He played a superb overall game, continuing his outstanding play this winter, averaging 25 points per game.

Semaj Lawrence also contributed a team high 11 rebounds and 8 points. Both Jack Kimmelmann and Peter Kropf played a huge role in this game, handling the ball with confidence and committing only one turnover during the entire game.

The difference was from the foul line. The Settlers shot 13 of 21 and the Indians were just 5 of 6 from the charity line. Shelter Island actually outscored their opponents from the field 48-45.

Coach Jay Card Jr. made some adjustments at halftime, trying to negate the quickness of the Southold guards. But give the Settlers their due, they hit some big shots down the stretch and managed to gather two very key offensive rebounds off missed free throws in the last 45 seconds of the game.

Overall, Coach Card was pleased with his team’s effort, but like the rest of the hometown crowd, a little disappointed that the team fell short of earning a big upset. As he said after the game, “It’s a learning process and we need to learn how to win these close games if we are going to be a playoff team”. Experience can be an important teacher and will serve the team well in the future.

The team appreciates the support of their loyal cheerleaders and fans.